Spring for steam and other pressure gages



(ModeL) I E. A. WOOD.

SPRING, FOR STEAM AND OTHER PRESSURE GAGES. N0.fZ9'7,-785. Patented Apr. 29, 1884.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN A. WOOD, OF UTIOA, NEW YORK.

SPRING FOR STEAM AND OTHER PRESSURE GAGES..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 297,735 dated April 29, 1884.

Application filed January 16, 1884. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN A. WOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York,

. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Springs for Steam and other Pressure Gages, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accom ,i 5 springs, of steam and other pressure gages,

which will be firm and compact in its texture,

and at the same time flexible enough to yield or cxpandwithin certain limits under pressure. My invention consists of a diaphragm-spring for the purposes already mentioned, formed of sheet metal rolled into shape, the fibers of the metal of which the said springs ordisks are composed being compacted and tempered during the rolling process. Figure 1 is a front'view of a steam-gage, showing the diaphragm or plate springattached thereto partly in section. Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in section, of the rollers between which the disks are rolled and formed. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a diaphragm-spring. Fig. 4 is a sectional detached View of the disks and band or rim, which constitute another form of diaphragm-spring. V

In the manufacture of disks or plates for the 5 construction of diaphragm-springs for steamgages, it has been the usual custom to stamp them in dies, so as to form concentric corrugations; but this method disturbs or destroys, in a measure, the fibers of the metal and weakens the same, so that itwill not act uniformly on the lever which operates the index-hand of the gage. The surface of such disks or plates,upon a close inspection, presents a mass of hair-like fractures or splits, which necessarily weakens the metal and makes it unreliable.

been proposed to spin these metal disks so as to form corrugations, and at the same time burnish, harden, or temper the metal; but this process is also objectionable, for the reason that only a skin-like tempered surface isformed on the disks or plates, while the main portion of It has also more compact.

the metal is untempered, and from the unequal densityof the metal the diaphragms or springs formed of the same are liable to give way under a heavy pressure. To ob'viate these defects in 5 the. construction of diaphragm-springs for steam and other pressure gages is the object of my invention, and instead of stamping or spinning the metal into the desired shape, I subject it to the action of rollers in the manner which I will now proceed to describe.

I In Fig. 2 I have shown a portion of the machine by which the springs are rolled, and will not in this application claim any portion of the machine, reserving this to form the subject- 6 5 matter of a future application.

Referring to Fig. 2, G is a roll mounted in suitable bearings and adapted to be moved endwise to or from the cone-shaped roller H.

The'roll His mounted in bearings in such a 0 manner as to bringits tapering sides in a line with the end of the roll G, and is adapted to be rotated with or independently of the roll G. The end of the roll G is corrugated to register and match with the corrugations in the coneshaped roll H, and between the ends of these two rolls the metal plates or disks I are rolledand corrugated. The metal in the disks formed in this manner is compacted to give the requisite elasticity wholly by the action of the two rolls between which the disks are revolved, while pressure is applied to bring the ends of the rolls nearer together, thus performing in manner.

. As before stated, the spinning of metal is a sort of burnishing process, and its effect different on the metal from that of rolling. The rolling compacts the metaL- Spinning draws it into form by a rubbing motion, and the fibers of metal are not compacted evenly, as-they are if rolled. -Metal is aptto crack in spinning, showing an uneven temper, while the same metal can be rolled almost indefinitely with no change, except to become harder and Moreover, this tempering by spinning cannot be made uniform, being partly dependent on the skill and judgment of the operator, while the rolled temper, being produced by mechanical means, can be duplicated indefinitely.

To insure good work and produce disks of uniform density and temper, the endwise-nloving roll is provided with a delicately-adjusted electrical device, so that when the shaft has advanced endwise the desired distance an alarm will be sounded, and notice given to the operator that the disk has been rolled or compacted to the required density, and thus the disks will be made of a uniform thickness and strength.

i A is the plate or diaphragm spring, and is composed of the two disks B and C, the disk 13 being made large enough to have its edge turned down to form the side D of the spring, and then turned up a short distance to embrace the flange a of the disk 0, as shown at (l in Fig. 3. The edges of the disks thus interlocked are soldered or otherwise secured together, so as to make a tight joint. E is the pressurecavity, and F is the ordinary screw-threaded tube attached to the disk, and opens into the pressure chamber or cavity E.

The form of spring shown in full in Fig. 1 and in detached sections in Fig. 4 is essentially the same in construction as the spring described and claimed in my patent of J anuary 3, 1865, No. 45,786, except in this, that the metal is rolled into shape in the manner already described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a diaphragm-spring for pressure-gages, composed of plates or disks of brass or other suitable metal, compressed or compacted into the required shape and tempered by the action of rolls, as set forth.

2. A diaphragm-spring for pressure-gages, composed of an upper plate having its edges turned downward and then inward and upward, in combination with a lower plate having its edges turned down to interlock with the upturned edges of the upper plate, and soldered thereto, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ED\VIN A. XVOOD.

Vitn esses:

H. H. TIMERMAN, GEORGE E. HorKINs. 

